KIEV, December 9. /TASS/. Kiev is ready to swap prisoners of war with the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics under the 'all-for-all' formula, said Yury Tandit who heads Ukraine’s Defense Ministry’s coordination center for releasing hostages.

“One of the clauses of the ‘all-for-all’ exchange is article 5 of Minsk agreements. We are speaking on freeing the prisoners on an ‘all-for-all’ basis. Ukraine is ready for such a release,” Yury Tandit said on Tuesday.

The Ukrainian official said however some difficulties could arise during the process.

“We bring the detainees upon the courts’ rulings and hand them over to that side. We take all the people they send to us, but they do not hand over officers and battalion members in large groups ,” he explained.

“Our main task is to get everyone back,” Tandit stressed.

Tandit has denied any attempts and possibilities of exchanging prisoners of war for money.

“A war is under way, and it has certain rules. One of them is to prevent human trafficking as this comes in violation of military ethics and they also understand this,” he added.

According to Ukraine’s Security Service, as of December 8 a total of 684 Ukrainian citizens are being held as prisoners of war in eastern Ukraine, including 181 servicemen. Around 1,600 people have gone missing.